~ Edifying through Fundamental truths.

The Fundamentals: Chapter 5

Perhaps the greatest travesty of the American church today is the failure to accept the Bible as a divine book that is inspired by God. According to a recent Gallup poll taken in 2011, only 3 in 10 Americans actually believe that they can take the Bible literally. What worsens this statistic is that only 40% of the US actually attends church each Sunday. One would think that at least that 40% would take the Word of God as their authority, but even this is not the case. There are spots in the the US where church attendance and belief in the Bible are much lower than the national average. The State of New Hampshire, my home, ranks 49th out of all all 50 states in Sunday morning church attendance with only 23.7%. It has been estimated by recent surveys that only 2%-3% of those NH church attenders would identify themselves are either Fundamental or Evangelical Christians. Friends, this is horrific.

What seems to be the problem? There is no doubt that one major hurdle we face is that far too many people who identify themselves as “Christian” do not view the Bible as the authoritative, sufficient, and the life-changing Word of God. Any attempt to be a victorious Christian without the Bible is a vain and ridiculous religious ritual.

Chapter 5 of The Fundamentals proclaims the importance for all men to view the Bible as the only divinely written book that is worthy of honor, guidance, and sufficiency. Simply stated, the Bible is infallible. It is incapable of error or misleading. “Here, it was believed, is a volume which is an inspired record of the whole will of God for man’s salvation; accept as true and inspired the teaching of that book, follow its guidance, and you cannot stumble, you cannot err in attaining the supreme end of existence, in finding salvation, in grasping the prize of a glorious immortality.”